Wholefully Well + Abby Allen, NTP

18/10/2019

"Infant rice cereal, rice dishes and rice-based snacks topped the list of most toxic foods for babies.

'These popular baby foods are not only high in inorganic arsenic, the most toxic form of arsenic, but also are nearly always contaminated with all four toxic metals,' the report said."

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Parents, grandparents, caretakers: YOUR BABY DOES NOT NEED RICE AS THEIR FIRST FOOD. If your pediatrician is still recommending rice cereal (in a bottle 😳 or as a first food), sorry - not sorry - to say it, but your doctor is waaaaay out of the loop and should be questioned. Feed your baby real food! Cut up some avocado, steam some broccoli, scramble an egg, cook up your own veggies and puree them if you feel baby needs a puree. But for the love of all things, ditch the baby cereals.

Tests of 168 baby foods by an advocacy group found 95% contain toxic metals that can lead a loss of IQ and developmental delays in infants.

28/06/2019

Just say 🙅 to conventional eggs.
Just say 🙅 to cage free eggs.
Just say 🙅 to those sneaky marketing tactics on your egg carton.

Only say 👍 to pastured, free roaming, happy chickens. And don't be afraid to ask what those little ladies are being fed. A backyard chicken in a coop being fed GMO corn and soy is not much better than store bought, conventionally raised.

And if you're in the Houston/Austin area, you won't find any better eggs anywhere, ever, than from

Trust me on this one.

Think pastured eggs aren’t worth the extra cost? Check out the stats below on the nutrients in a pastured egg vs. a conventional egg from a study done by Mother Earth News:⁣
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• 1⁄3 less cholesterol⁣
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat⁣
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A⁣
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids⁣
• 3 times more vitamin E⁣
• 7 times more beta carotene ⁣
• 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D⁣
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Not only are they more nutrient-dense, but you are supporting farms that take good care of their animals. Do you buy pastured eggs? Where is your favorite place to buy them?⁣
(Source: https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/eggs-zl0z0703zswa )

20/04/2019

Happy day before Easter!

I just wanted to share this video I made a couple of years ago that lists some of the ingredients you should look out for in your personal care/cosmetic products. I call it... The filthy 5. 😷

These are all ingredients that may or may not be listed on your products and some have been proven to be unsafe for you and your family but yet, they're still allowed to be used on our body's largest organ.

09/03/2019

Health is CREATED in a child, not GIVEN (in the form of a pharmaceutical).

Whaaaaatttttttt? According to a study in 2014, 70% children are exposed to antibiotics before the age of 2. And the average 5 year old has had antibiotics 2.5 times! That’s an astounding number, and this was 2014...my guess is that number may be higher now. Ugh.

Immune system strength is crucial, and overwhelming research tells us it all starts with the gut! We live in a current state of allopathic medicine where we prescribe far too often, and intervene way too much (I’m talking to you v-word). Here’s why this overuse of antibiotics is bad for your child:

❌Antibiotic use between 0-23 months is associated with an increase in obesity. The bacteria in the child’s gut is disrupted during crucial growth cycles after antibiotic use—as a result, the microbiome is negatively affected and the child is more likely to be overweight by 5 years old. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/1909801

❌Antibiotic use in young children is associated with metabolic and autoimmune diseases, including asthma, food allergies, eczema, obesity, and types 1 and 2 diabetes. (Dr. Martin Bl**er)

❌The overuse of antibiotics is creating superbugs, bacteria that are unaffected by antibiotics, and therefore far more dangerous.

❌It is estimated 50% of all antibiotic prescriptions in the U.S. are unnecessary! “Risks of antibiotic overuse or overprescribing include not only increases in antibiotic resistance, but increases in disease severity, disease length, health complications and adverse effects, risk of death, healthcare costs, re-hospitalization, and need for medical treatment of health problems that previously may have resolved on their own.” http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/asp/overuse-overprescribing-of-antibiotics

What’s crazy to me is to think my almost 3 year old, who is still breastfed and lives under a holistic lifestyle umbrella, would have had 39 doses of *something* by now!! (Yep, you read that right). And yet he’s been sick exactly TWO times, a respiratory infection that lasted 4 days in January and a mild case of HFM he got from his sister’s school a few months prior. He’s never been on antibiotics, and neither has my 5.5 year old (who was breastfed until age 4). They’ve never had Tylenol, and we don’t use other fever reducers or OTC medicine. To think of the amount of interventions they’ve avoided, and stayed far healthier than an average American child as a result. And listen, the important thing here is to focus on the big picture—the consistent, lifelong health of our bodies. Cultivating good health in the body is a marathon, not a sprint. We want to be disease-free and devoid of chronic, debilitating conditions as older adults as well.

Unfortunately as a society, we make these debates on “health” what we can GIVE TO the child in the form of a pharmaceutical product, instead of what we should CREATE IN the child in the form of a functionally-strong and self-sustaining immune system. Remember there are lots of things we don’t have medicine for, and the only way to increase your odds of getting through without complication is an immune system that is not hyperactive (yes there is such a thing as being sick too often), improperly-initiated (all responses are not created equal), or weakened by too much of a “good thing”.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/childhood-antibiotics-exposure-raises-obesity-risk-092914 #1

-From:

26/12/2018

Juuuuuuust in case you're not broke after Christmas... If I have any local or nearby customers/customers-to-be who want to take advantage of Beautycounter's winter sale (up to 60% off), shoot me a message/text and I'll cover your shipping!

Browse here.... https://www.beautycounter.com/abbyallen…

Little peek of some of the goodies that are left... those glosses and palette are 😍Sa

31/10/2018

Happy, Happy Halloween!

Can you guess my least favorite holiday? 😁

I loathe Halloween. Definitely a Halloween Grinch here. I love pumpkins and fall and weather and all of that good stuff, but I hate AAALLLLLLL the candy that comes with this day and I sort of hate having to buy costumes. Yes, it's fun for my kids so obviously we partake in the festivities, but it just ain't my thing. Not gonna lie... The news that it's supposed to rain all evening is music to my ears. 😂

Several years ago, I learned about the Switch Witch and she's been visiting our house every Halloween night to take all that candy off our hands. Sometimes she leaves toys. Sometimes she doesn't plan in advance, so she leaves money. But the most important thing she does is take all that artificially colored, GMO infused, sugar filled bucket of crap off our hands and replaces it with something just as fun for the kids. They do get to choose their 5 favorite pieces, so I'm not completely mean.

There are a few different stories floating around the interwebs if you would like to introduce the Switch Witch (or Candy Fairy) to your kiddos. There's even one who will fly to your house for the month of October and hang out with you until Halloween. But who really wants another Elf on the Shelf. 🙄

Have a great night, y'all!!!

24/09/2018

There it is. Right there in the middle. In all its glory. All the blood, sweat, and tears ending right here. The last bag. Two years, 27 days. We made it. We. Made. It.

There are so many hard decisions we have to make as moms. From before our babies even enter this world, we are making choices for them and their futures. Some moms, like me, are planners and find peace when we make to-do lists of our to-do lists and other moms are the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type. I'm jealous of those moms.

I made a plan for baby #3 that I was going to be the best nursing mama on the planet. On demand. I got it. You want it. Here you go, kid. What I have is yours. Anytime. Anyday. Anywhere. Bam.

But then, reality. And nothing about that plan happened.

When my little fella was just two weeks old, at the advice of our pediatrician, I hooked myself up to a milking machine. And for one year, 8 months, and 24 days, I hauled that thing around everywhere I went. I had pump parts and bottles and coolers and ice packs and bottle brushes and special soap and extra pump parts in case something broke and cords and wireless adaptors, and a backup manual just in case. I was basically a dairy cow. And when Memorial Day weekend came and the big kids were almost out of school for the summer, I decided it was time to let it go and focus on them. We had frozen enough milk to make it to two years old. That was my goal. My 3rd or 4th or 5th goal. Because amongst this small, never talked about, rarely supported group of breastfeeding moms who exclusively pump, we survive on goal setting.

And we made it. We made it two years and 27 days. Broken pumps, spilled milk, no dairy, lactation cookies, power pumps, mastitis, wrong flanges, torn membranes, dead batteries, clogged ducts, leaking bottles, loads of coconut oil, freezer stash, no freezer stash, rotating milk problems, maymom adaptors, leaking bags all over the refrigerator shelves, makeshift forgotten parts, against all odds... We made it. And it feels good.

My favorite words of advice that I pass on to all pumping moms: Never ever ever quit on a bad day. It will always get better. You are doing an amazing thing for your baby. It may or may not be part of YOUR plan, but it is part of THE plan. And you're doing it. And you're doing a damn good job.

Moms. We're pretty freakin' amazing. And our kids - they're pretty lucky to have us. Mommin' definitely ain't easy. But we were divinely created with purpose and through that purpose, we can do our very best for our children.

You are loved. You are appreciated. You are tougher than you'll ever know. You are mom. Which is basically a superpower.

14/09/2018

I ♥️ soup. You can pack so much goodness into a pot of soup, it makes my belly happy just thinking about it. I'm making a creamy meatball soup tonight because listening to the thunder rumble and watching the rain all week has got me feeling soupy.

Have you joined my group?? Recipe and meal details will be here later this afternoon! Hint: I'm using Italian beef sausage from and ground pork from . Yum!

👇👇👇👇👇
https://www.facebook.com/groups/180554155840123/

28/08/2018

Sooooo, if you see me over the next few days, do me a solid and don't offer me a snack. Ok? Thanks.
This is new for me but I'm sort of at a point where I feel like I need to try something I've never tried before. So I'm taking a little digestive holiday and giving my system a break. Some of you know I have but I really haven't had any symptoms or issues for many years. HOWEVER, I have been feeling really baaaaaad lately - like for the past couple of months. I don't think it's bad enough to call it a flare but it's definitely something and I'm trying to avoid the lovely gastroenterologist having to go in and take a look.
So, I brewed some bone broth and snagged these juices from and I'm gonna hit the ground running tomorrow. I'm also going to be drinking my warm lemon water + aloe juice first thing in the morning. I haven't decided on whether I'll keep up with my supplements during this fast but I'll let ya know. And number of days are still to be determined but it'll be a minimum of 3. Going with intuition on this one...
I have zero expectations other than being hungry but I'm hoping to just feel a little bit better.

22/08/2018

Back to school yummies for my littles! These grain free mini corn dog muffins took me about 10 minutes to throw together. They freeze great and are fun for lunches or a quick dinner.

I used this "cornbread" recipe (there's no corn). This is also my go-to recipe whenever we eat cornbread. It's SO good. And I use Applegate organic beef hot dogs cut into about 1" pieces. Baked at 350 for 18 minutes.

Tip: use parchment liners so the breading doesn't stick.

https://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2016/11/gluten-free-grain-free-corn-free-cornbread-recipe.html

05/08/2018

Best day ever! FINALLY!! The AAP (those are our pediatricians, y'all) is finally recognizing the devastating effects that chemicals and additives such as food dyes, bisphenols, nitrites/nitrates, phthalates, and others can have on our children. They are also warning against using plastics in the microwave, and get this you guys... They are recommending against less processed foods and more whole foods! Ha! I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

The truth: these chemicals they're warning about are not only in our foods, but in products and packaging we use every single day.

The truth: your packaging matters just as much as the ingredient label because these chemicals WILL leach into your product/food.

The truth: to know the damage this is doing and to ignore it is an incredible disservice to our children.

The effects:
☹️ Thyroid dysfunction (hyper/hypothyroidism)
☹️ Early onset/delayed puberty
☹️ ADD/ADHD
☹️ and many more...

“ 'Chemicals that affect the endocrine system, for example, can have lasting effects on a child since hormones coordinate complex functions throughout the body,' Dr. Trasande said. 'Even small disruptions at key moments during development can have lifelong consequences,' he said. Annual estimated health-care costs tied to endocrine disrupting chemicals, he added, are estimated to be roughly $340 billion.

Among its recommendations, the AAP calls for a more rigorous and transparent “Generally Recognized as Safe” designation process, including new requirements for toxicity testing before use in the marketplace and re-testing previously approved chemicals."

New report calls for stronger federal food safety requirements and outlines ways families can limit exposure to chemicals used to process, package and preserve everyday foods that aren’t adequately proven safe.

23/07/2018

Whipped up this giant pot of soup yesterday to munch on during the week but we ate way more than I anticipated so there goes my soup breakfasts. 194 degree weather won't keep me from souping!
Cabbage, broccoli, carrots, onion, garlic, green chilis, chicken, a whole lotta homemade bone broth, turmeric, and cumin. And yum.

21/07/2018

Still over here Whole 30-ing, but my meals have been so boring this week, I figured I'd spare the repetitive posts.
Hoping for something more adventurous next week, but for now, just trying to make it.
Baked sweet potato & cauliflower (it would have been bang bang cauliflower but I don't have any Sriracha), grilled thighs and asparagus.

13/07/2018

Quite possibly THE best roasted chicken I've ever made. Check my stories for the deets on how I made it. Scarfed it right up with some roasted brussels, avocado, and there's those darn beets again. 😂
Kid version: same thing but I roasted some potatoes for them with the brussels.

13/07/2018

Obsessed with this little snack.
Cucumber slices topped with avocado, shredded carrots, jalapeno kraut, and a drizzle of coconut aminos.
Yum.

13/07/2018

You know what's amazing?? Breakfast after a fairly non-existent dinner. Remember when I said I wasn't really a breakfast eater when I wake up? Probably not, because who reads captions anyway. BUT, I can definitively say that today, I woke up thanking the Lord it was morning and time to eat.
Thinly sliced red potato and Brussels sauteed in ghee, bacon and a fried egg. And that side of beets, y'all. So damn good. Happy breakfasting, friends. Make it a good one.

13/07/2018

So I made this today... Kind of for dinner. I just wasn't feeling like a meat and veggie dinner so the kids ate their leftover Chipotle from lunch and I ate this. I just warmed a banana with some coconut milk, cinnamon, and walnuts and topped it with almond butter drizzle, a dollop of plain almond milk yogurt, and a little more cinnamon. Whole 30? 🤷 I don't even know the rules anymore.

12/07/2018

This happened today! These are the new pressed powders that are super pigmented (like, worthy), silky smooth, long wearing, and best of all, triple checked for heavy metals. Eyeshadow pallettes, highlighters bronzers, and blushes...
Also! Is a 'Get the Look' bundle where you can combine these for a discounted price. Put that combo together with the Flawless in Five and you save $80 and can revamp your entire makeup bag with safer AND high performing products. Whoop!